Would it be possible for a person to sound more condescendingly amazed than Guy Raz of Planet Monkey was this morning as he discovered that, what do you know, even in Haiti people quickly start makeshift businesses after they have lost everything? What did he expect to find, weeks after the earthquake?

I find the tone of surprise in his voice all the more remarkable since others have already done the "look at the clever guy charging people to recharge their cell phones" story, weeks ago. Doesn't Guy even listen to NPR?

Julie Rovner was on the Diane Rehm show yesterday, and I couldn't help but think "How has this woman been covering the health care reform story for over a year without actually learning more about what was in the bill?" She was really poorly informed about details, for a supposed expert.

Then this morning, I was reminded how that was possible. Her story today was about abortion funding in the bill, and consisted primarily of charges and counter-charges, (including Michelle Bachmann as an authoritative voice! Ha!) with no actual detail about what the bill actually says. If you listen to the people Rovner gives us to listen to, you'd think it's a pro-abortion bill, maybe.

And it was yet another disappointing, and somewhat offensive, pointless, and condescending piece from Davidson. Every report that I've heard from the Planet Money team - especially from Davidson but also from Chana Joffe-Walt (and others) has been like this. The Planet Money team did (before they were "Planet Money") one very solid report for This American Life and have been coasting on their reputation from that ever since, and every report and posting to their web-page has been increasingly worse; often offensive and pointless. Its perhaps very cruel to say, but I'm of the opinion that Planet Money should be disbanded and they all should be fired. As economic reporters and "ellucidators", they suck. Its just disinformation and soap-opera at this point.

The only time I really enjoy and learn something from Adam Davidson's reports are the ones where he admits his stupidity and publicly castigates himself, which has happened surprisingly often. And what I learn from those reports is: He's an ass.

'The LEAD STORY on NPR's hourly news update last night was Newt Gingrich making a speech somewhere in which he said that Democrats were to blame for the terrorist attacks against Democrats, because they had "bought votes and bullied people".

Again, Gingrich's opinion was the LEAD STORY ON NPR NEWS.

The NPR new announcer simply read Gingrich's assertion on the air, treating Gingrich's opinion as though it were "news", and moved on to the next story.

And that's how the "liberal" National Public Radio is "reporting" on the Ditto-Head attacks on Democrats -- by acting as a bullhorn for blatant, content-free Republican propaganda.Posted by: SecularAnimist on March 26, 2010 at 12:46 PM'

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